58. Church of Sainte-Foy and Reliquary

 

Church of Sainte-Foy
Conques, France. Romanesque Europe. Church: c. 1050-1130 C.E.; Reliuary of Saint Foy: ninth century C.E.; with later additions. Stone (architecture); stone and paint (tympanum); gold, silver, gemstone, and enamel over wood (reliquary)

One can see some of the most fabulous golden religious objects in France, including the very famous gold and jewel-encrusted reliquary statue of St. Foy. The Church of Saint Foy at Conques provides an excellent example of Romanesque art and architecture.

THE CHURCH! 

1. FORM
1. Romanesque pilgrimage church
2. Cruciform plan
1. Cross commemorates Christ's sacrifice
2. Helped crowd-control of pilgrims 
3. Pilgrims traveled around the ambulatory and radiating chapels, paying homage to saints' shrines  
4. 
   
2. CONTEXT
1. Pilgrims went to receive a blessing; their visitation = demonstration of piety
2. Located in Conques, France -->  on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain
1. Many churches on the pilgrimage route had a similar or identical layout to manage throughput
3. The church was also an abbey: it was part of a monastery where monks lived, prayed, and worked...not all of the original monastery remains.
4. A church had stood on the spot since the 600s; the Church of Sainte-Foy was built from 1050-1130. 
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3. FUNCTION
1. To host pilgrims on their journey to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
2. To bless its visitors, demonstrate their piety, and help them be saved on Judgment day
3. To inspire (or scare) Christians into behaving in a holy manner that would ultimately lead them to Heaven
1. Reminder to both pilgrims and monks/clergymen
1. There was a lot of misuse of church offices at the time amongst clergymen (even though it was a sin)
4. To venerate Christ, and commemorate his sacrifice on the cross as a second chance for mankind's salvation
5. 
   Main Portal (South entrance, with Tympanum over the doors)
   

   

   

   
   

   Interior shot, from apse area, looking towards South entrance and the nave. 
   
   
   

   Arcade covered by a Pediment (detail of the Tympanum, South/Predominant portal)
   The House of Paradise, on the side of the Saved
   Abraham sits centrally, surrounded by Saints
   God gestures towards a kneeling Sainte Foy
   
   
4. CONTENT
1. Barrel-vaulted nave, with arches on the interior
2. Nave, apse, 1 side aisle on each side 
3. 5 radiating chapels surround the apse (in a semi-circle)
4. Prominent transept (cruciform church)
5. Elaborately carved Tympanum on the South Portal of Christ and the Last Judgment
1. Semi-circular relief carving above the doors to the central portal 
2. Christ sits enthroned at the center
1. His right hand gestures up, towards heaven, on the side of the saved 
2. His left hand gestures down, towards hell, on the side of the damned
3. On Christ's right: Mary, Peter, the founder of the original monastery, and an entourage of saints 
3. Below the saints on Christ's Right: an arcade covered by a pediment, symbolizing the House of Paradise
1. Houses the blessed/saved; people who will live with Christ forever
2. Abraham is seated at the center of the House of Paradise
3. Above Abraham, the Hand of God reaches out to a kneeling Sainte Foy (Saint Faith)
1. On the pediment's opposite side, right under the enthroned Christ's feet, angels open and release souls from their graves to be weighed/judged by God to determine if they're going to heaven or to hell.  
1. A large doorway leads to paradise
2. A gaping mouth leads to hell
3. Clear divide in faith is depicted on Judgment day
2. Pediment of the Lower register of Hell
1. Centrally-seated Devil sits, grinning, surrounded by tortured, screaming souls
2. Figures in intense pain, panic, chaos, and cruelty surround him
1. All represent some capital sin
1. Adultery, gluttony, arrogance, misuse of church offices
1. Devil sits enthroned like Christ: he has the power to Judge and decide punishments for the damned
2. On the Devil's left: a hanged man, representing Judas
1. He hanged himself after he betrayed Christ

RELIQUARY OF SAINTE FOY!

33.5 inches tall

Head (detail)

Spolia: reuses a Roman statue's head 

1. FORM
1. Wooden interior covered in gold, silver gilt, and jewels
2. 33.5 inches tall (just over 3 feet tall)
3. Contains Sainte Foy's remains 
4. Uses spolia (repurposing of Roman materials to create anew,) the head of the Reliquary was originally the statue of a Roman child's head
2. CONTEXT
1. Originally displayed in a monastery in Agen
1. First mentioned in written history in 1010 by Bernard of Angers
1. He worried it would inspire Idolatry because of its extreme preciousness and expensiveness
2. The monks at Conques conspired and stole it to draw visitors to the small town of Conques
1. Reliquary itself was highly valued: precious metals and gems, ancient headpiece
2. But also contained the bones of Southern France's favorite martyr
3. Sainte Foy, a 12-year-old French, Christian convert lived in Southern France under the Roman Empire in 200 CE
1. Killed at age 12 for refusing to worship pagan gods --> seen as a martyr
4. Occasionally visiting pilgrims donated gems to be added to the reliquary as symbols of their piety/faith
1. Statue gradually accrued a large variety of precious gems, including: agates, amethysts, crystals, carnelians, emeralds, garnets, hematite, jade, onyx, opals, pearls, rubies, sapphires, topazes, antique cameos and intaglios
5. Every October (still!) there's a festival in Conques and the region of Southern France that celebrates Sainte Foy
1. Medieval tradition remains in present-day devotion
6. The Reliquary brought (and continues to bring) a great number of pilgrims/tourists to the Church of Sainte Foy, which would otherwise just another obscure, rural church.
1. This was its intention: to bring pilgrims to the tiny town of Conques
1. To build up Conques' commerce and economy
3. CONTENT
1. 33.5 inch-tall statue of a seated female martyr, Sainte Foy
2. A disproportionately large head, repurposed from an ancient Roman statue of a child
3. The remains of Sainte Foy lie inside, hidden to the eye
4. The reliquary is covered in gold, silver gilt, and a menagerie of precious gems 
1. Many of which were donated by pilgrims and added to the Reliquary over the years
4. FUNCTION
1. To commemorate Sainte Foy as a Christian martyr and saint
2. To inspire veneration and an increased faith in Christianity
1. Someone died for this cause...even a young child who had barely had a chance to live...so it must be amazing and powerful beyond understanding, right?
3. To draw pilgrims (and now tourists) to the small town of Conques in Southern France
1. To build up the Conques economy
2. Prestige, glory, increased awareness of Conques as a city
5. CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS: PILGRIMAGES
1. Great Stupa, Sanchi
2. Kaaba
3. Bamiyan Buddha
6. CROSS CULTURAL COMPARISONS: LAST JUDGMENT SCENES
1. Giotto, Arena Chapel
2. Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
3. Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer

Bibliography:

http://peregrinations.kenyon.edu/gilles_photoessay/StGilles-du-Gard.html

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/medieval-europe-islamic-world/a/church-and-reliquary-of-saintefoy-france 

https://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/france/conques/stefoy/int.html